Youngest labor patient?

Specialties Ob/Gyn

Published

What is the youngest age patient you have taken care of or has b een on your L&D unit?

I was floored the other week when we had a 12 year old in labor. Yes, 12 years old. Merely a baby herself, having a baby. That was the same day I was caring for a laboring 14 year old who was having her first baby (a 33 week demise at that).

:crying2: So very very sad.

From a public health standpoint, babies having babies is really a problem. The US has the highest rate of teenage preganacy of any developed country in the world!

I wrote my master's thesis on disclosing incurable STD status between new romantic partners and was shocked at some of the literature I read.

It seems that sex education is lacking (as many of you have mentioned) and has been seriously overtaken with the conservative mentality that abstinance based programs are the best (despite substantial evidence that these programs don't work).

Here in Texas, educators are not allowed to use the word condom in schools. And for those schools who teach kids how to use condoms and give them out, well they all seem to forget that you can't just give a kid a condom and expect them to be comfortable talking with their partner about wearing it. You have to teach these negotiation skills.

If schools actually talk about STDs, they make them into the worst consequence of pre-marital sex, making them the worst thing in the world. No wonder around 40 - 60% of adults diagnosed with HIV don't tell new romantic partners before having sex with them!

Is this environment, TV becomes the primary educator for sex. While parents have a lot of influence, many are scared to death to talk about sex with their kids. TV tells children that everyone has sex, that they never use protection, and people rarely get pregnant or get STDs.

Ugh, it just makes me angry like many of you.

In defense of the mothers....I don't think it's fair to say "Where were the mothers when their daughters were getting pregnant".

A mother can only do so much (sermons, pamphlets, face to face talks) to prevent it from happening but in the end it's the girls decision.

Unfortunately a mother can't sit on her daughter 24/ 7.

As a mother of a 16 year old I know all too well we can't be with them 24/7. Trust me........I've tried. My job as a mother is to educate my children and know who they're hanging out with and try to stay informed in what's going on. Some of the mother's I've dealt with were knowingly allowing their teenage daughters 13-15 to date young men 18-21 and then just surprised at the thought these girls were pg. That's where I have the problem with those mothers.

Youngest LD pt was 13. She was very excited about being a mother. Her mother had her when she was 15...also excited about being a grandmother. As far as my 13, 10, and 9 year old. They know all about mutal masterbation, oral, lady partsl, and anal sex; how to use a condom correctly; STD's, pubic lice etc. It drives them nuts, but I quiz 'em every once in a while to see if they remembered. They know these things because I had to suck it up and tell them. I was very proud when my 13 year old son corrected his friend, "you can too put a condom on wrong. You have to leave some space at the tip to catch the stuff". (yes I was eves dropping).

Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.

While i have asked "where are the mothers" (parents, actually, sometimes i think there's not enough expected out of the fathers), apparently some have been right by their side, cheering them on.

I will say, about myself, that at least from age 14, i knew exactly what i was doing. To blame my parents for anything wrong i did as a teenager would be scapegoating, and avoidance of any personal responsibility for my actions.

As a mother of a 16 year old I know all too well we can't be with them 24/7. Trust me........I've tried. My job as a mother is to educate my children and know who they're hanging out with and try to stay informed in what's going on. Some of the mother's I've dealt with were knowingly allowing their teenage daughters 13-15 to date young men 18-21 and then just surprised at the thought these girls were pg. That's where I have the problem with those mothers.

Well a mother knowingly allowing her daughter to date a 18-21 year old needs a good talking to. I agree with you..I too would have a problem with that. Holy moly! :eek:

Was she trying to marry her off? At 13 years old the child can hardly be called worldly....what else does the man want with her but to have sex with her. Wha tdoes any teenage guy want for that matter...but the age difference at that age is significant.

Hi,

I want to tell you that I'm SHOCKED about thinks I read here! 11, 12 y.o in labour!!! My daughter is almost 10 and she still plays with the dolls, she was 7 when I had her little sister, one think she knows for sure: babies are anoying!

I came from a eastern european country where my MIL is a midwife, she told me that very young girls are given a c-section because the body is not fully grown and a long difficult labour may affect the baby. She also thinks that this is a good ideea, there's no point traumatising this kids more that they allready are, labour can be a very scary and difficult experience for an adult woman. What do you think about this?

Specializes in ER, OB.

I hope you don't mind if I post somthing, I thought you might want to see a teen point of view. I am a fifteen, where I go to school we have over 15 girls who are going to have a child or have just had one this year. The worst part about it is that about 10 of those girls wanted to have children, it was not on accident. I just don't know why these girls are doing this. There is a girl that is in 10th grade and going to have her second baby, I think that many of these girls either just want someone to love them or think that their boyfriend will love them more if they have a child, but as many of them are finding out, most of the guys are just leaving them. I am sorry if you dont' want me on here. I just wanted to post this b/c this is becoming a real problem. I can't even think of having a child now, I am enjoying my high school years. Not to mention further on.

Wanna be L&D nurse,

Gabby

I hope you don't mind if I post somthing...

Of course you are welcome to post here. :)

Very young teen pregnancy is unfortunately nothing new. It's just much more widespread.

My mom was a home health nurse in the 60s/70s/80s. She probably saw 10-12 new moms under the age of 13 every year; I think 9 was the youngest she had. Mom suspected that most of them were probably impregnated by family members, but nothing was ever proven and social services then were not what they are now. And she only saw the babies that were being kept by the families and not those given up for adoption.

Specializes in ICU, ED, Transport, Home Care, Mgmnt.
I hope you don't mind if I post somthing, I thought you might want to see a teen point of view. I am a fifteen, where I go to school we have over 15 girls who are going to have a child or have just had one this year. The worst part about it is that about 10 of those girls wanted to have children, it was not on accident. I just don't know why these girls are doing this. There is a girl that is in 10th grade and going to have her second baby, I think that many of these girls either just want someone to love them or think that their boyfriend will love them more if they have a child, but as many of them are finding out, most of the guys are just leaving them. I am sorry if you dont' want me on here. I just wanted to post this b/c this is becoming a real problem. I can't even think of having a child now, I am enjoying my high school years. Not to mention further on.

Welcome to the board. Sounds like you are a level headed, smart teen. You are doing exactly what you need to be doing at your age, having fun. I wish more teens had as much common sense as you do. We'll look forward to have you join our ranks in 6 or 8 years. :)

Specializes in Pediatrics, Nursing Education.

I was really young when I had my daughter. I just wanted to post to stress to you have how much an influence YOU guys have on these kiddos.

One huge reason I went to nursing school and became an RN was because of the influence my healthcare providers had on me during my pregnancy. At first, I felt really horrible about myself. The way those in the healthcare community made a huge difference in my whole perception of the experience. It really gave me "hope." Especially my doctor, whose first question to me at my 8 week prenatal appointment was "are you going to go back to school after you have the baby?"

I think every day how great and encouraging the L&D nurses (who I know work with!) treated me. It made all the difference in the world... it made me want to be the best momma in the world to my baby, and they had confidence in me that I could. They didn't teach me like I was stupid just because I was young... and were very encouraging on stuff such as breastfeeding (and deciding NOT to breastfeed!) Sure, I was lucky... I had a lot of help and access to a lot of resources that most teens probably lack. But I don't think that I would have been so persistant out of making something out of myself if it hadn't been for those people who took care of me.

Because of them, I went straight back to school. I declared nursing as my major, and I graduated with my ADN.

I know I'm probably the exception to the rule with that... but I think that we as healthcare providers have much more influence than we think or realize.

what's the oldest pt you've had in labor? I work in genetic testing(soon to be nursing student)...oldest we've had for testing is 50! (Youngest is 11-so sad, also fetus was trisomy 18) I can't imagine having babies at either extreme.. I'm zonked at the end of the day w/ my 2 and I'm 30! Just curious...

Alrighty please go easy on me as I am not a nurse I am someone who is hoping to be accepted into nursing school this September but this is a topic that really interests me.

But first off Kaitlyns mom I truly believe that god gave you your special child because he believed that you would be the best person for her, I do not believe that a 10 or 11 year old could give that child the love and support that she needs. I have a slightly different perspective then some of you because I am just recently out of my teens myself I remember what we learned about sex in high school and that was absolutely nothing. We knew the names of stds but for most of them we didn't know much more. I believe that the sexual education courses here in canda are very irrelevant. I personally had about half an hour dedicated to pregnancy in my health course and all that they said is what it did to your body.

Hearing about 10 and 11 and 12 year olds getting pregnant really makes me want to cry not just for them but for their children. A 12 year old is not done growing emotionally or physically and does not understand their body. I remember how I felt about myself at that age and I couldn't imagine having a child. I am the proud aunt of 4 beautiful children all born to teenage mothers and I kow that sometimes an older teen can be a great parent such as in the case of my sil, but I have also seen the reverse side. Most teenagers are not ready to be parents especially the younger ones.

I cant see home schooling being the answer (please don't hate me I am not judging) if the only reason you are home schooling your children is because you are afraid of them reproducing I think you might be taking it a bit far I can honestly say that I know many girls who have had enough self respect to say no. We need to educate our children about the dangers of sex not just the physical ones but the psychological and emotional aspects as well. Education is the best weapon and I honestly don't think that what teenagers are being taught in school is enough. You cant be afraid to talk to your children you must because your children will be afraid to talk to you. When you are having problems of a sexual nature the last person you want to tell is your parents. And we cant rely on them getting good information as the people they talk (their friends) to will most likely be as if not more ignorant then themselves. What my mother did for me was let me know that I could talk to her with no reprucussions, and I did I found it hard but I knew I would not be punished.

All you need to do is to check out sites like gurl.com or seventeen.com to realize how ignorant many children are about the repercussions of sex, stds, and pregnancy the site I mentioned gurl.com (which is geared towards 14-17 year olds )has a sexual awareness quiz which includes topics like birth control and stds and believe it or not less than 40% of children pass that test with a 50.

Sorry im ranting but it is a topic that really does affect strongly as I see the effects everyday in my family and in my social interactions, I do believe that if we armed our children with more information and if more information was available to them it wold make a difference.

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